Jazz Ensemble

Jazz 4 Justice
April 15, 2018 - 3:30pm
Old Cabell Hall
$10/$9 UVA Faculty & Staff/ $5 students/ Free for UVA Students who reserve in advance

 

The UVA JAZZ ENSEMBLE partners with JAZZ4JUSTICE to support Legal Aid and promote the arts.

On April 15th, 2018, the University of Virginia Jazz Ensemble, directed by trumpeter/composer John D'earth, will partner with Jazz4Justice in a concert devoted to the vocal element in Jazz. The concert will feature Stephanie Nakasian, an internationally recognized jazz vocalist and long-time lecturer in jazz vocals, at UVA, along with student singers, who will be coached by Ms. Nakasian in a "residency" setting, going into the concert.

The evening of vocal jazz will feature classics like Fly Me To the Moon, Duke Ellington's It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, and It's You or No One, by Sammy Kahn, along with original compositions from within the band. In a special appearance the Virginia Women's Chorus will sing D'earth's arrangement of Willowland, a song written by his late wife, vocalist Dawn Thompson.

"Jazz4Justice has done much to develop the natural link between jazz music and social justice," D'earth said, "and that is why I am so glad to be partnering with them.

Since the events of August, in Charlottesville, jazz music, which is African-American in origin, has seemed ever more relevant to social concerns, because jazz arose in opposition to injustice. And there is nothing more fundamental to social justice than our constitutionally guaranteed access to the courts."

Ms. Nakasian will be coaching student singers Nadine Michel, Joy Collins, and Jazz Ensemble trombonist, Grant Frazier, along with a new jazz vocal choir formed by a coalition of student singers headed by another Nakasian's protégé, Colleen Callahan.

The Jazz Ensemble will provide their usual explosive and eclectic mix of jazz classics and originals from within the band. Graduate student drummer, Rami Stuckey, is developing his first vocal piece for big band, and D'earth will have Grant Frazier and the band perform a new vocal composition, River on the Rocks, along with a rousing rendition of Sensitive Like Ladies, from his opera, Sacred Profanity.

The UVA Jazz Ensemble has become famous for irreverent musical fun, serious devotion to the jazz canon, and a sensitive use of music to elaborate social concerns and philosophies. And every piece played on April 15 will feature the human voice.

Tickets for the UVA Jazz Ensemble's April 15th matinee are $10 for the General Public /$9 for UVA Faculty & Staff/ $5 for students/ and Free for UVA Students who reserve in advance. Tickets can be purchased at the UVA Arts Box Office by calling 434.924.3376 or visiting www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu. Tickets will also be available at the door one hour prior to the concert.

Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). Parking is available in the Central Grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Road, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner.

All events are subject to change.

Address

UVA Department of Music
112 Old Cabell Hall
P.O. Box 400176 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4176

Email: music@virginia.edu